How one woman took multi-tasking to the extreme...by taking her baby on live TV

Defence journalist Deborah Haynes inadvertently made a big statement earlier
today when she appeared on Sky News talking about military cuts, while
bouncing her baby on her knee. Aislinn Laing explains why working
parents everywhere enjoyed the moment so much and what Jack Straw had to do
with it.

Image 1 of 2

Working while holding the baby is the norm - you just don't usually see it on live TV.Photo: Alamy

Image 1 of 2

Italy's Member of the European Parliament Licia Ronzulli (C) takes part with her daughter Victoria in a voting session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg last year.Photo: REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

It was only a matter of time before someone did it. So when defence editorDeborah Haynes, appeared on Sky News just a few hours ago, talking about military cuts while jiggling her baby daughter on her knee, working parents of both sexes cheered with delight.

We’ve all been there: you’ve promised five different things to three different bosses, you’re juggling phone calls and emails on two devices and trying to persuade a fractious five-month-old that butternut and lentils really IS a good combination.

Then all of a sudden, every deadline combines in a perfect storm, leaving you trying to bath a squirming child with one hand, while tapping out a 500 word story on your iPad with the other - all while bickering with your partner.

In Haynes’ case, she insists baby Grace’s appearance on the worldwide rolling news channel was not a planned statement on how mums can think outside of the world of nappies.

Currently on maternity leave from her job at The Times, she was persuaded by a Sky producer to do a quick interview about defence cuts in their central London Millbank studio.

She raised the issue with the producers that she had three-month-old daughter in tow, but was told to bring her along anyway - on the assurance that someone would hold her at the critical moment.

For what happened next, she blames Jack Straw. “He wanted to hold her so I took her out of car seat which was of course a massive mistake,” Haynes says.

“I then found myself carrying her around but the producer told me she would take her when the time came so I thought it would be fine. They were about to go to Jack Straw to talk about Syria when there was some kind of mix-up and they came to me instead.”

To her credit, baby Grace behaved impeccably, even gazing placidly at the camera when she was held up by her mother after the Sky News interviewer observed that she had a “junior correspondent” on her lap.

The reception on Twitter after baby Grace's star turn was overwhelmingly positive - and was for once missing that hint of condescension that often goes with talk of women juggling work and home.

The 36-year-old journalist confessed that it was not the first time her children had appeared on Sky. “The only difference is that this time, Grace was in shot,” she explains.

But Haynes is no stranger to combining the demands of her job and her family. She fell pregnant with her first child Leo, now three, while based in Iraq. She has previously written about how she only worried about him once while away on the job, when she came under fire in Afghanistan, after he was born.

“It’s obviously a big issue for lots of women so if this [today's stint on Sky News] raises the profile of working mothers then I’m delighted,” she said.

While Haynes's experience is probably a first for a journalist on national television, it is by no means usual.

Licia Ronzulli, an Italian MEP, caused a similar stir when she took her seven-week-old baby to a parliamentary vote wrapped up in a sling across her chest last year.

Licia Ronzulli

In less high profile positions, working mothers the world over will have similar stories to tell.

And if such an overt combination of roles makes bosses uneasy, they should think again.

If anything, the odd reference too – or background squeak from – a child can be a huge plus when you’re seeking to build empathy with a work contact. For, as you and your contact suspend work-talk and instead begin chatting about the topics so familiar to all parents - weaning, teething and sleepless nights – you forge a bond that no amount of professional platitudes can match.